Implications of Israeli multilingualism and multiculturalism for translation research

Research conducted within the framework of Descriptive Translation Studies in Israel tends to disregard the implications of Israeli multilingualism and multiculturalism for translation. To promote research on this issue, the paper refers briefly to some sites of translation activity involving Arabic, Russian and other languages besides Hebrew. An analysis of one text (an episode from The Simpsons, broadcast by Israeli television with Hebrew and Arabic subtitles) provides a preliminary insight into translation norms. In trying to attract attention to the relevance of Israeli multilingualism for translation, the paper responds to the criticism directed at Israeli Descriptive Translation Studies for (a) insisting on ideological neutrality while, in fact, the concentration on Hebrew as a target language may testify to ideological preferences, and (b) putting too little stress on the power relations involved in translation, which have become a major issue in the discipline.